3 weeks ago, while on our way to our basecamp at 17,000ft in the Himalayas to climb two Unclimbed mountains, we plugged in our $1000 solar panel and something short circuited. The panel is our life line to the outside world. It’s how we charge our sat phones, tracking devices, receive weather updates and most importantly, let our loved ones at home know we are okay.

In a panic, we reached out to @microcelcorp via Twitter and email and without motive other than to help one of their customers in need, they immediately mobilized. With no way to confirm what actually happened, they sourced a brand new panel, shipped it by plane from Canada to Kathmandu, Nepal. From there, the panel traveled solo on a plane and landed in Lukla, the most dangerous runway in the world. It then proceeded, with the help of a lovely Sherpa couple, to be loaded onto a yak and traveled over 30km’s through the Himalayas, in the monsoon rain, and today arrived in time for us to take the panel to basecamp.

This is an incredible gesture on the part of a business that has no ties or affiliation to us whatsoever. They listened to a customer’s needs and responded at the highest level. Today, we can now communicate with our loved ones and have the confidence to know we will be able to communicate to the outside world in the event of an emergency. We can now also climb knowing we will have the remote assistance we need should anything go wrong.

Two weeks ago, our team leader was evacuated by helicopter after a near-fatal climbing accident. Pasang Kaji and I rescued him, brought him down to basecamp and he was evacuated to safety and is now home in Montreal recovering. Today, we make our way back to basecamp as a team of two to resume our climb and keep the dream alive, with Gab in spirit.

Thank you @Microcel! Your selfless actions and extremely considerate gesture has made an incredible difference in our lives. You’re an example of how all businesses in this day and age can go the extra mile (in this case over 7000m!) for their customers. We won’t forget it.

A link to our new series on Discovery Channel that features the climb we are on that is unfolding in real-time.